Tsuki yo oshiete kure eng ver
by TurquisePL
Summary: How had it happened that commoner Renji became the fukutaichou of aristocratic Kuchiki Byakuya? NO yaoi. English version.


_This was corrected by georgeus VraieEsprit, all thanks go to her. Domo arigatou gozaimashita!_

_So, that's the first chapter. Unfortunately, it lost a lot in translation... Still, I hope you will like it and write some reviews to give me a sign if I should translate more ;)

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The attention of Kuchiki Byakuya, the head of the biggest one out of four great aristocratic clans of Souls Society, and in the same time the captain of Sixth Division, was now completely concentrated on the paperwork lying in front of him. The end of month was closer and closer and with it – the deadlines. And the amount of all documents, contrary to logic, was rising, not decreasing.

The man's hands had been moving monotonously already for few hours, signing successive reports. Fortunately, nobody had been disturbing his peace. Squad members, usually shouting and noisy, for those few days were silent and were trying to not cross their ways with their captain. To be honest, the second wasn't anything new.

Unfortunately, even this nearly miraculous peace had to finish sometime.

Someone knocked to the door, which opened after a while, letting in a shinigami with a vice-captain badge. Byakuya raised his head, looking expectantly at his subordinate.

"Kuchiki-taichou, they signalled the presence of Hollows in Rukongai. Our squad along with the eleventh is to deal with the problem", reported the fukutaichou.

The captain looked at still high pile of paperwork and nearly unnoticed frowned.

"Mareko, take appropriate people and deal with it", he decided.

"Hai, taichou", answered the lieutenant, bowing and going out of the room.

Byakuya raised his brush once again, but his thoughts went in another direction. Mareko Motoki has been his vice-captain already for few years, although he had gained his position mainly thanks to his aristocraitc family's influences. Though he had enough skills for his rank, he was not suitable for a adjutant.

He disdained commoners from Rukongai, in some ways like his captain. But there was a diametrical difference between them. Byakuya didn't discriminate against anybody within his squad, during missions he was guided by somebody's potential, not his origin. That's why he was surrounded by a fear and respect not only as an aristocrat, but especially as a superior. It was differently with Mareko. He couldn't separate those situations - when you could be influenced by your social opinions, and those emergencies when there should exist only professionalism. Because of this he was disdained by other shinigami and they were standing up to him in every way that didn't break the regulations.

On the other hand, the lieutenant had always shown too much respect for those higher in society than him, gaining completely different results from those that he wanted to – even Byakuya, usually neutral for everybody, couldn't rid himself of the negative feelings. As a captain, he didn't respect the skills of his vice and he didn't trust them, as a Kuchiki he didn't gravel to develop with him any private relations.

The meditations of the aristocrat were stopped by the sound of opening doors and a view of the next shinigami with another armful of paperwork.

* * *

Mareko, leading a small group of shinigami came to the western gate, where people form the eleventh squad had been waiting for him.

At the head of them stood three men.

The lieutenant clenched his jaw, recognising them. "It's not enough that I have to go to smelly Rukongai and command those commoners, but also I got the three biggest scoundrels, yet", he thought. Third officer Madarame Ikkaku. Recently appointed sixth officer Abarai Renji. Fifth officer Ayasegawa Yumichika. Hearing their greetings, the fukutaichou clenched his teeth.

"Yo! If we had to wait any longer, we'd have gone without you!", said Ikkaku, smiling sinisterly.

The vice-captain decided that the commoner's provocation wasn't worth answering and he should accomplish the mission as fast as possible and return to his office.

"Madarame-sanseki, do come with your group along with me. Then I'll decide what strategy we'll choose", he claimed categorically.

He clenched his fists, preventing himself from reaching for his katana, when a loud laugh of two officers and one a little more shy giggle were his only response.

"Hahaha, Mareko, where did you get the idea that you'll be the only one commanding here?"

"Madarame-sanseki, I have the highest rank here and I will be the one giving orders. I'm not interested in relations in your division, where lower ranked officers command highers and where the captain can't give an order. And now we'll do the mission. According to the regulations", said the lieutenant, barely curbing his anger.

"How dare those commoners! I'll show them who is commanding here... ", he was thinking, while the other shinigami were slowly recovering from the shock caused by his words. The first that recovered was Madarame. It was immediately followed by the swift drawing of his katana.

"Take back what you said about Zaraki-taichou", he growled and members of the eleventh squad who knew him withdrew a little.

However, before he had enough time to make another move, Yumichika put his hand on his arm.

"It was completely unbeautiul, Mareko-san. Next time, please, be careful with your words or we will be forced to take care of it ourselves", he warned quietly with his calm voice.

Everybody was standing still,

waiting for the vice-captain's reaction. who was stunned. He couldn't believe that those commoners, what is more, lower in rank, were threatening him right now. But he decided to take it up with them after the mission, which was a priority even in such situation. He turned back to his division and ordered:

"Follow me."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Madarame was hiding his katana and that everybody was going after him. He pretended that he didn't hear when Abarai leaned to his senpai, whispering scornfully:

"Coward."

When they got to the place, the situation wasn't very good. Through huts, most of them destroyed, were treading Hollows, circling in search for souls that survived an attack. Mareko hurriedly commanded: "The eleventh squad will attack from the front. We'll go around them and try to surround them, so that no will be able to run away."

His answer was a choral "Hai, fukutaichou" from his own divison, while the others looked at Madarame, waiting for his agreement. When he nodded, they immediately attacked. Mareko couldn't understand how an un-ranked shinigami dared to question his orders but for now he decided to concentrate on a monster's extermination. He went after the others, who had already started carrying out his orders. After a while he realised that he was the only one that has noticed what the biggest danger was. Standing on the left, nearly completely covered by other Hollows, was a Menos Grande. A few moments later a few of eleventh division's shinigami ran in his direction, attacking from the wing instead of the front, against his orders. It seemed that they hadn't noticed their enemy's strength, treating him more like a grown-up Hollow. The lieutenant, at first scared, suddenly sneered. "Wonderful. It should teach them not to go against orders", he thought, turning and easly cutting through a mask of the nearest Hollow.

But the vice-captain was wrong. Renji, who fought saw nearly the whole thing. He couldn't believe what he had seen. He had never thought it normal, that what seemed to be friendly, if tough exchange of opinions could lead to such an open disregard of responsibilities. And what about such a thoughtless squandering of human lives! After a while he recalled the lieutenant's look during their first meeting. Full of hatred and disdain, swimming through a sea of complexes.

This was a man who was willing to sacrifice everything around him for the sake of proving his non-existing in reality superiority. Renji was observing with horror how Menos Grande knocked the shinigami that attacked him down in just few seconds and then how he shot a cero on the unaware vice-captain.

"Mare...!", Abarai hasn't even managed to warn the lieutenant, as he was hit by the red energy and thrown to the ground, unconscious, a few metres away.

The Menos Grande immediately turned to the defeated enemy, wanting to land on him the final hit. However, his arm was stopped by a zanpaktou.

"Hoero, Zabimaru!", screamed Renji, blocking the monster.

Mareko, half-opening his eyelids saw as Abarai along with Yumichika, who appeared just after the release of the sixth officer's shikai, forced the monster into withdrawal, while other shinigami killed the last few Hollows. Before anyone managed to come to him, he lost his consciousness again.

* * *

When he was disturbed the third time in the last few hours, Byakuya felt anger rising within him. Not only was the paperwork not lessening, but he couldn't even concentrate on filling them out! His thoughts were wandering, this time stopping at memories connected with Hisana. It only spoilt his horrible mood even more.

"Come in", he growled, hearing the abhorrent sound of knocking.

Seeing a frightened face of a shinigami that apparently was sent by some officer who didn't want to take the superior on himself, he knew that the news would not help on his mood.

"I understand that you wanted to tell me something?", he asked coldly.

"H... Hai, taichou", stammered the this time not frightened, but extremely frightened man.

"During a mission with Mareko-fukutaichou, there was a... an accident and Unohana-taichou asks you, sir, to come to the fourth division, sir..."

"I see. Dismissed", Byakuya answered calmly.

The shinigami bowed and went out as fast as possible.

The captain looked at the papers again, then stood up and shunpoed to the fourth division.


End file.
